After an 18-month hiatus, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has given the green light to resume shale gas exploratory ‘fracking’. Tim Probert explores the next steps towards the UK’s ambition to create a shale gas revolution. This article was first published in the February 2013 issue of Materials World. There has been no end … Continue reading
Last night I enjoyed the spectacle of a shale gas public relations car crash in the charming West Sussex village of Balcombe. Last year shale oil and gas firm Cuadrilla Resources obtained a license to commence exploratory drilling at Lower Stumble, 1 mile south of the village. A hardcover surface has been prepared, and a … Continue reading
Cuadrilla Resources, Britain’s first shale gas exploration license holder, claims a 500 square miles area around Blackpool, Preston and Southport contains enough methane to meet national gas demand for at least 50 years and create thousands of jobs. Proponents say Cuadrilla’s resource is revolutionary, opponents say shale gas is unnecessary. Who’s right? Tim Probert digs … Continue reading
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) response towards recent domestic shale gas developments has been notably reserved and avoids the partisan hyperbole of environmentalists and oil & gas industry players alike. Why? Isn’t shale gas the best thing since sliced bread? In case you hadn’t heard, Cuadrilla Resources, a joint venture between Australian … Continue reading
The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) warned the first company to explore for shale gas in the UK that its operations in the vast Bowland basin near Blackpool will be shut down permanently if methods to mitigate earthquakes from hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, fail. Cuadrilla Resources, a joint venture between Australian drilling … Continue reading
